---
title: "Changing the World with Robotics – Employee Interview: Robotics Engineer Edition"
description: "Meet Denys, Lead Robotics System Engineer who moved from Ukraine to Tokyo in 2012 as one of Mujin's very first engineers, tackling 'impossible' automation on the frontlines."
type: blog
publishDate: "2020-12-14"
tags: ["Interview", "Engineering"]
---

Welcome to another edition of our "Mujinians Voice" series!
Today, we interview **Denys**, Lead Robotics System Engineer. Having arrived in Japan from Ukraine in 2012 to help build Mujin almost from scratch, Denys reflects on our founding years, the grueling physical reality of industrial robotics, and where automation is heading next.

<figure class="my-6">
  <img src="/blog/2022/01/IMG_0287-2-scaled-1-835x1024.webp" alt="Denys, Lead Robotics System Engineer" class="rounded-lg w-full max-w-lg mx-auto h-auto object-cover border border-border" />
  <figcaption class="text-xs text-muted-foreground mt-2 text-center">Lead Robotics System Engineer: Denys</figcaption>
</figure>

:::note[Pioneering Autonomous Robotics Since 2012]
Traditional industrial arms were blind, rigid machines merely repeating hardcoded coordinates. From day one at Mujin, Denys has led the charge integrating 3D machine vision with real-time autonomous motion planning—giving robots eyes, brains, and adaptability in the real world.
:::

---

## 🧒 Childhood Spark & Questioning "Blind Machines"

*-- Can you tell us a bit about your upbringing and how you got into engineering?*

> 💬 **Denys:**
> I was born in Ukraine, and both of my parents were engineers. Early in my childhood, my parents gave me an introductory programming book, and on its cover was an illustration of robot programming. That image captured my imagination completely. Looking back, that was the very spark that shaped my entire journey.

<div class="grid grid-cols-1 sm:grid-cols-2 gap-4 my-6">
  <figure class="m-0">
    <img src="/blog/2020/12/IMG_0272-1-225x300.webp" alt="Denys childhood" class="rounded-lg w-full h-64 object-cover" />
    <figcaption class="text-xs text-muted-foreground mt-1.5 text-center">Denys as a child, inspired early on by his engineer parents</figcaption>
  </figure>
  <figure class="m-0">
    <img src="/blog/2020/12/IMG_0208-1-225x300.webp" alt="Student robotics projects" class="rounded-lg w-full h-64 object-cover" />
    <figcaption class="text-xs text-muted-foreground mt-1.5 text-center">Building mobile robots and embedded controllers at university in Ukraine</figcaption>
  </figure>
</div>

During my university studies in Ukraine, I built small robots, soldered boards, and wrote embedded control software.
That experience highlighted a glaring flaw in industrial automation: factory robots were astronomical in cost, yet they were essentially **blind, deaf machines blindly replaying pre-taught trajectory points**. If an object was off by just one millimeter, the machine would crash or halt.

I became determined to build intelligent robots that perceive their surroundings, compute dynamic trajectories in milliseconds, and adapt to unpredictable real-world environments.

---

## ⚡ Discovering OpenRAVE & Moving to Tokyo in 2012

*-- How did you first cross paths with Mujin?*

While contributing to the Robot Operating System (ROS) open-source ecosystem, I came across the autonomous motion planning library **OpenRAVE**, created by Dr. Rosen Diankov (then at the University of Tokyo, originally from Carnegie Mellon). Rosen's algorithmic architecture was years ahead of anything else in academia or industry.

When I learned that Rosen had co-founded Mujin with CEO Issei Takino in Tokyo, I reached out immediately. The vision of porting cutting-edge real-time motion planning algorithms onto real heavy-duty industrial arms was irresistible. In 2012, I packed my bags, moved to Japan, and joined Mujin as one of its first engineers.

<figure class="my-6">
  <img src="/blog/2020/12/10475980_771879499509698_6402111719537770660_o-3-698x1024.webp" alt="Early Mujin Office and Team" class="rounded-lg w-full max-w-xl mx-auto h-auto object-cover border border-border" />
  <figcaption class="text-xs text-muted-foreground mt-2 text-center">The early Mujin Tokyo office in 2012: a handful of engineers setting out to transform the world</figcaption>
</figure>

---

## 🏭 Conquering the "Impossible" in Real Industrial Trenches

*-- What was it like deploying systems in the early days?*

> 💬 **Denys:**
> In 2012, we had to invent almost everything from scratch: the core robot controller, real-time bus communications, kinematics solvers, 3D perception pipelines, and touch operator UIs. We traveled directly to customer factories all over Japan, debugging arms in environments thick with oil, metal shavings, and dust.

<div class="grid grid-cols-1 sm:grid-cols-2 gap-4 my-6">
  <figure class="m-0">
    <img src="/blog/2020/12/IMG_0209-3.webp" alt="Factory deployment" class="rounded-lg w-full h-56 object-cover" />
    <figcaption class="text-xs text-muted-foreground mt-1.5 text-center">Calibrating trajectory kinematics on an active factory line</figcaption>
  </figure>
  <figure class="m-0">
    <img src="/blog/2020/12/IMG_5935-1-1024x752.webp" alt="Rigorous durability stress tests" class="rounded-lg w-full h-56 object-cover" />
    <figcaption class="text-xs text-muted-foreground mt-1.5 text-center">Rigorous continuous testing to guarantee 24/7/365 production uptime</figcaption>
  </figure>
</div>

At the time, customers routinely told us: **"Random bin-picking is physically impossible—parts are overlapping in random orientations, and machines can never handle that variance."**

We refused to accept that. We coupled fast 3D vision with real-time obstacle avoidance and dynamic grasp synthesis. When our system first picked randomly jumbled heavy steel parts smoothly without a single collision on the live production floor, the plant managers and line workers erupted in spontaneous cheers. That goosebump moment is something I will never forget.

---

## 💡 Engineering Ethos: Taming the Physical World

*-- What mindset do you look for in prospective engineers? What is your vision for robotics?*

**Grit in the Physical World**

Code that runs perfectly in a pristine simulation will encounter unexpected motor heating, fluctuating factory lighting, and mechanical flex in real life. You need the **relentless perseverance** to iterate until it runs deterministically 24/7/365.

**A Truly 'Mujin' (Unmanned) Future**

Eliminating grueling, dangerous physical labor through intelligent robotics. By liberating humans from repetitive toil and enabling them to focus on creative endeavors, we contribute to a **richer, more fulfilling society**.

<div class="grid grid-cols-1 sm:grid-cols-2 gap-4 my-6">
  <figure class="m-0">
    <img src="/blog/2021/03/019-scaled-1-1024x683.webp" alt="Denys at the Tokyo Robot Center" class="rounded-lg w-full h-64 object-cover" />
    <figcaption class="text-xs text-muted-foreground mt-1.5 text-center">Denys orchestrating industrial workcells at the Tokyo Robot Center</figcaption>
  </figure>
  <figure class="m-0">
    <img src="/blog/2020/12/IMG_5028-1-1024x780.webp" alt="Multi-robot coordinated testing" class="rounded-lg w-full h-64 object-cover" />
    <figcaption class="text-xs text-muted-foreground mt-1.5 text-center">Multi-robot coordinated testing cell operating at full factory scale</figcaption>
  </figure>
</div>

For engineers with deep foundations in computer science and mathematics who crave the thrill of seeing real steel move through their code, Mujin is the ultimate playground.

---

## Explore More Mujin Stories & Culture

**[Frontend System Team Interview](/blog/frontend-system-interview)**

Building intuitive, game-like robot interfaces for factory operators.

**[Mujin LOGO: The Hidden Meaning](/blog/logo)**

CTO Rosen Diankov reveals the philosophy behind our emblem.

**[Monthly All-Hands Meeting](/blog/internal-update-meeting)**

How our 100+ global team stays unified behind a single mission.

---

Want to build intelligent robotics systems that transform manufacturing and logistics worldwide?

**[Explore Robotics System Engineer Roles](https://www.mujin.co.jp/en/)**

Mujin is actively recruiting world-class engineers across motion planning, computer vision, control systems, and embedded software.